A Midsummer Night's Dream
by Luna Darkside
Summary: "The first day Kuroba Kaito strolled through the doors of 2-B with the announcement that he would be joining their class for the year, Kudou Shinichi had gotten the stomach-churning premonition that things were not going to continue to stay peaceful." /ShinKai, oneshot, complete/


_So here's just a really simple and fluffy idea – nothing too complicated (or so I think). Based on a random thought I had while touring Canada. _

_Anyway, warnings would be… uh, blatant theft of Shakespeare. Although I openly admit it's Shakespeare and don't claim it as mine._

_This is set post-Conan/post-series, where Shinichi has defeated the Black Org and has returned to school and his regular life. Enjoy! – Luna_

**A Midsummer Night's Dream**

The first day Kuroba Kaito strolled through the doors of 2-B with the announcement that he would be joining their class for the year, Kudou Shinichi had gotten the stomach-churning premonition that things were not going to continue to stay peaceful.

And it had been right. Ever since the mischievous magician had plunked down in the seat beside him, Shinichi had endured quite a bit. Keeping Kuroba away from himself was hard enough, but keeping Kuroba away from Mouri Ran, Shinichi's official girlfriend of four months, was pure torture.

Shinichi was deciding this as he glared at Kuroba for the second time that lunch period. The messy-haired magician was offering a slightly nonplussed Ran a pink rose.

"Kuroba, would you mind refraining from giving my girlfriend suggestive flowers?" he asked, sending his classmate an irate glower.

Kuroba grinned that annoyingly bright smile, revolving on his heels to show it to Shinichi. "Well, if you don't want Mouri-chan to have it, why don't you take it, Shinichi?" He extended the flower at Shinichi.

Shinichi gritted his teeth at the casual use of his first name before refocusing on the proffered flower. Noticing the now-familiar, soft smell suddenly permeating the air before him, Shinichi hesitantly reached out to accept the rose. The second his fingertips brushed the stem, bright spots of red swallowed up the petals, turning the pale pink to a deep, seductive scarlet.

Staring at it unblinkingly, Shinichi slowly moved his gaze up at the magician. "Um, Kuroba…?"

"Yes?" asked the magician innocently, batting his eyelashes at the detective.

Letting out a sigh, Shinichi pulled the flower from Kuroba's grasp, setting it down on his desk beside his blocky stack of textbooks. "Is that okay?" he asked wearily.

Nodding brightly, the magician skipped off to harass some of the others in the class.

Ran, who had watched the whole exchange with an eyebrow raised, laughed softly. "He's energetic, don't you think?"

"If by 'energetic' you mean a complete idiot, then yes, I agree," grumbled Shinichi, reached into his bag to retrieve his bento. "Why can't he just leave me alone? Or at least treat me the same as everyone else?"

"What do you mean? Isn't Kaito-kun like that with everyone?" wondered Ran, opening her own bento.

"Yes, but especially with me." Scanning the room for the magician, Shinichi found him fluttering from person to person, flipping the girls' skirts up and dying the boys' hair. "See? He goes from person to person for only a couple seconds each, changing up his annoyance tactics from day to day, but haven't you noticed how every day he offers me a rose?"

"You mean he offers me a rose and then you take it?" quipped Ran, digging her chopsticks into her rice.

"I'm pretty sure he means for me to get it in the end, considering that by now, he should've realized that I would stop him from giving you roses and would've started doing it when I'm not around. But he continued, so I'm beginning to think he wants them to be redirected at me," Shinichi explained, leaning back as he pulled the lid off his bento.

"Well, I wouldn't know anyway. You're the great detective, aren't you?" Ran smiled, and Shinichi had to smile back.

He leaned over to ruffle her hair. "You got that right. And you're the great detective's girlfriend."

"Huh. You're right, I am," Ran smirked, moving over to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

Beaming back at her, Shinichi pulled himself back into his seat. As he bent back over his lunch, he happened to glance up and catch Kuroba watching him with an unreadable expression.

_Odd. _

The rest of the lunch passed uneventfully (although there were a lot of screams and cursing as Kuroba evaded the fury of the girls whose skirts he had flipped up). Shinichi tried to tune it out, but he was getting more and more irritated with the class's resident prankster.

By the time class resumed, most of the girls were exhausted from chasing down Kuroba. Stowing away his now empty bento box, Shinichi began searching for his copy of _A Midsummer Night's Dream_, the current reading book for their English class. His eyes latched onto the rose still lying delicately across his desktop, and his lips tightened.

Pulling out his book, Shinichi concentrated on their English teacher. She was leaning against the front of her desk in the front of the blackboard, flipping through _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ with a pensive expression.

After a few more moments, she nodded, looking resolute as she cleared her throat, raising her eyes to watch the class. "So I've decided that for our next English project, you will have to perform part of _A Midsummer Night's Dream _in front of the class."

There was a collective groan, one that Shinichi took part in. While he _was _fluent in English, he didn't have much appreciation for Shakespeare, and the idea of performing part of the man's work in front of his class was less than appealing.

"Oh, please. You'll only have to do a few lines each. I'll be assigning partners – in gojuuon order* – and parts now. It's going to be due tomorrow, so you'd better practice."

Another loud moan. Their teacher rolled her eyes, picking up the class roster. "Cut it out. I'm going to let you use the book. You don't even have to memorize anything." She looked down at the sheaf of papers. "So here are the partners: Aoyagi-kun and Aikawa-san – act 1, first half of scene 1, Enomoto-san and Ohara-san – act 1, second half of scene 1…"

It wasn't long before Shinichi heard his own name – cringing when he did.

"Kudou-kun and Kuroba-kun – act 2, pages 36-37 of scene 1…"

"Isn't that great? You can get to know Kaito-kun!" Ran teased, laughing at Shinichi's unconvinced expression.

Shinichi dropped his head down on his desk. While Kuroba did had fairly good English, Shinichi was _not _looking forward to practicing with him. His chest throbbed at the thought, and Shinichi closed his eyes, breathing out.

By the time Yoshinawa and Watanabe had been partnered up, most of the class was looking up their parts with their partners. Ran had already abandoned Shinichi's side for her partner, Yamashita, and it took Shinichi a second to realize that Kuroba had replaced her.

"Hey," the magician greeted. "Have you found our part yet?"

"Huh?" Shinichi stared at him blankly for a long second before going slightly pink. "Oh, no, sorry." He quickly cracked open his book, hurriedly searching for page thirty-six.

"That's okay. You can come over after school today," Kuroba invited as their teacher began calling for order. "I'll meet you at your shoe locker after school. Do you have soccer practice or anything today?"

"Uh… no, today's okay," Shinichi agreed as the magician nodded and headed back to his seat and Ran reclaimed her spot.

Was it just him… or was the magician a little less maddening than he'd thought?

* * *

"Hey, Shinichi."

Spinning from his just-closed shoe locker and girlfriend, Shinichi gave his approaching partner an acknowledging nod. "Hey, Kuroba."

"Hi, Kaito-kun," Ran added, questioning her boyfriend with a glance.

"I'm going over to his house today to rehearse our parts from _A Midsummer Night's Dream_," explained Shinichi, receiving an understanding nod.

"So our afterschool date's off for today?" Ran clarified.

Scratching the back of his head guiltily, Shinichi nodded regretfully. "I'm really sorry, Ran…"

"No, no! It's fine, you mystery freak. Go and practice," she assured, waving a hand dismissively. "You just have to make it up to me tomorrow!" Sending him a last grin, Ran turned and skipped off, her hair dancing behind her in silky chocolate ribbons.

Kuroba stopped a few feet away from Shinichi, also observing Ran's leave. "Really now, if you had a date, you could've said something," he reprimanded jokingly. "We could've rescheduled."

Shinichi shook his head, pulling his bag onto his shoulder. "Nah, it's fine. I plan on staying with Ran a long time, so what's an afternoon here or there in the long run?"

"Oh."

At the flat sound, Shinichi peered over at Kuroba, whose face seemed unusually void of his trademark grin. In his indigo eyes, was that… despondency that Shinichi saw?

It was only there for a second, if even that, before Kuroba was again smiling widely and shouldering past Shinichi. "Well, let's go, right?" he tossed back at the unmoving detective.

"Ah… yes," Shinichi quickly agreed, hurrying over to catch up with him.

The two walked side-by-side along the sidewalk in a silence so awkward the feeling tugged on Shinichi's skin, prodding him to try for conversation, but his view of the magician didn't encourage him to try. Who knew what might happen if Shinichi said the wrong thing.

"I'm not going to kill you, you know."

Starting visibly, Shinichi looked bemusedly at Kuroba, who was smirking at him. "While I do have a reputation as a pervert and a prankster, I'm not insane. I won't make you solve your own murder, Shinichi."

"Oh really," Shinichi deadpanned. "And I'm totally going to believe you."

Kuroba gave a small, sardonic gasp. "You honestly think a humble magician such as myself would commit murder?"

"When you do what I do, you realize that no matter how nice someone seems, they're still capable of killing. And I wouldn't put it past you," Shinichi said, punctuating the statement with a pointed glance.

Lifting his arms to cup the back of his head with his hands, Kuroba shrugged in agreement. "Yes, well, if I ever did kill anyone, I doubt it would be a pretty detective."

It took Shinichi a full minute to realize what Kuroba had implied. Once he had, he rounded on him. "What the hell do you mean by a _pretty _detective?"

Grinning, Kuroba replied, "Exactly what it means."

Snorting, Shinichi turned his attention back to the sidewalk. They walked for another few minutes before a realization hit Shinichi.

"Hey… aren't we kind of far from the school?" he queried uneasily, glancing over his shoulder.

"Oh. Yep," agreed Kuroba. "Did I forget to tell you? I live in Ekoda."

"What?! Ekoda?!" shouted Shinichi, whirling to confront his classmate. "Why the hell are you attending _Teitan High _then?!"

Kuroba blinked at the detective, detaching his hands from his head as he tilted it to one side curiously. "Why are you so mad about it?"

"It just doesn't make sense to me, is all," Shinichi answered, looking and feeling nettled as he flushed slightly. _Why would I even react like that? Don't be ridiculous_, he chided himself. Resuming the walk, Shinichi tentatively inquired, "But anyway, why?"

"I don't know. Things at Ekoda High didn't really work out for me," Kuroba responded, shrugging. "My… just, bad things happened, and I thought that if I went to… never mind. I transferred to Teitan."

"Oh," Shinichi said, unsure of what else to say.

The two walked in silence until Kuroba stopped in front of a well-kept house. Pushing through the front gate, he beckoned Shinichi to the front door, unlocking it with a key he pulled from his bag. "My room's up the stairs and first on the right. Wait there while I get some food and drinks," Kuroba commanded, pushing the door open.

Shinichi nodded, toeing off his shoes and sliding on a pair of slippers Kuroba provided. He stepped off the genkan* and followed Kuroba's instructions, climbing the stairs and entering the first room on his right.

The door was partially ajar, and Shinichi gently bumped it open, strolling in slowly and half expecting something to fly out at him and smack him on the head. Nothing did, however, and Shinichi breathed a sigh of relief, taking the chance to observe his surroundings.

Unexpectedly, the room was fairly typical. There was a neatly made bed in one corner, two sparse bookshelves, and a desk with a laptop in another.

The only thing that Shinichi found surprising was an almost-life-size framed painting on one of the walls. It had a red background behind a man who looked like Kuroba. He held a top hat in gloved hands as doves and confetti swept around him.

Dropping his book bag on the bed, Shinichi moved towards the poster, pressing his palm softly against it. He could tell the man was most likely Kuroba's father, and by the looks of it, he was no longer living. Clearly Kuroba admired him – why else would he have a giant poster of him in his room? – and Shinichi had to smile at the thought that even the cocky magician had an idol.

"What are you doing?!"

The horrified yell startled Shinichi, and by reflex, he pushed hard on the painting…

…and _fell through _it, tumbling through darkness until he landed on hard ground.

Shinichi groaned in pain and in shock before gathering himself up onto his feet, glancing around the spacious room he was now in. _Why the hell does Kuroba have such a dangerous_…

The thought died as his eyes widened and he saw the all-too-familiar white suit, the hat, the cape…

Behind him, Kuroba descended gracefully, landing beside Shinichi. "So… I guess I can't really deny it now," he muttered, avoiding the sharp gaze that Shinichi instantly moved on him.

"You. You're Kid," Shinichi managed to get out, staring at Kuroba openmouthed. "You're the Kaitou Kid."

Ever since Shinichi had returned from his days as Conan, he hadn't attended Kid heists. After all, wouldn't it be suspicious? Kudou Shinichi had only attended one heist before, after all. The thief slipped his mind most days, but on the days he didn't, Shinichi found it difficult to stop himself from wondering about what Kid was like out of uniform. Now that Shinichi was free to pursue whatever took his fancy since he didn't have to worry about stopping the Black Organization, he occasionally toyed with the idea of unmasking Kid.

But here, in this underground room, Shinichi was discovering that his number one annoyance had turned out to be the magician under the moonlight.

It was surreal, it was insane, and it made perfect sense.

"Uh, kind of?" Kuroba looked somewhat restlessly around the room. "Look, let's go back to my room and I'll explain, tantei-kun."

"Like hell you'll explain, damn thief," growled Shinichi, but he followed Kuroba up the ladder he now realized had been placed for the purpose of getting in and out of the secret room.

Once they had exited the painting, Kuroba sat down on his bed, gesturing at Shinichi to sit on the desk chair. "To make a very long and difficult story short, my father was the original Kaitou Kid until he was brutally murdered. After his death, heists stopped occurring for a while for obvious reasons." He leaned forward, staring Shinichi deep in the eyes.

"Eventually, I discovered that secret room and realized that my dad had been Kaitou Kid. I took over for him from there, the reason being that he was stealing the gems to stop a criminal organization from getting a specific gem first, one called Pandora. There's a legend about Pandora – if you hold it up into the moonlight, it will glow red. It also supposedly has the ability to grand immortality. For obvious reasons, I can't let that organization get it first. I'm going to get it first and destroy it."

Kuroba sat back, gaze still locked with Shinichi's. "If you don't believe me, fine. But I'm just going to have to beg you to not tell the police. Please. You know I'm not a bad person, tantei-kun."

Shinichi sat motionless for a long minute. Finally he moved, and it was to laugh. He smirked over at a dismayed Kuroba.

"Okay, Kid. Okay."

Jumping to his feet, Kuroba grabbed Shinichi by the shoulders, eyes wide and hopeful. "Really? You won't turn me in, Shinichi?"

"Sure, why not?" Shinichi confirmed, giving a half-shrug. "I don't mind, really. My division's homicide, anyway." He paused to consider his next words. "And I did rather like you, anyway. Your heists, that is."

Something in Kuroba's eyes clicked – changed, somehow. It was a subtle change from relief to… to an emotion Shinichi could've quite place. "That's good, right," the magician nodded, pulling his hands off of Shinichi and shifting away so they were no longer facing each other. "Thanks. Uh… you can go now."

"Huh? What about the – the project?" stammered Shinichi, confused. "Don't we have to…?"

"I think it'll be okay if we just practice our own parts, right? You take whoever talks first," Kuroba said to the wall.

Unsure of what caused the change in the magician, Shinichi reclaimed his bag and made for the door slowly. "Are you sure…?"

Kuroba nodded. "Of course. Go… spend time with Mouri-chan or something."

He glanced back over his shoulder as he headed down the stairs – and what he saw, as the magician turned slightly towards the door, was that Kuroba was blushing.

* * *

Shinichi glanced around the classroom. The lunchtime chatter was already beginning to fill the classroom, but Kid – er, Kuroba – was nowhere to be found. Despite that he had said they didn't need to practice together, Shinichi felt it would help their actual performance to do so.

A frown slowly began to crease Shinichi's forehead. Come to think of it, where had Ran gone? She wasn't anywhere to be found, either. She had immediately run off somewhere the second class had been dismissed for lunch, leaving her bento and books underneath her desk.

His eyes dropped down onto Ran's seat. A small slip of paper, a little crumpled and roughened along the edges, had fallen there. An eyebrow lifted, Shinichi reached over and picked it up, unfolding it.

It read, "Sorry, Mouri-chan, but can I talk to you? I have something really important to say. Could you me meet me on the roof at lunch? – Kaito."

_What the hell? _Brow slashed in two with a frown, Shinichi stood up, scraping back his chair as he headed for the corridor.

It wasn't long before Shinichi shoved open the door to the school's roof, fresh air washing over him as he stepped out onto the rooftop. He gritted his teeth at the sight that awaited him, storming over fiercely.

Kuroba was holding Ran's hand, saying something softly to her while she smiled, looking almost close to tears. It was another moment before Ran reached out and hugged him gently, lips pressed up in a quivering smile.

It was… awful.

"Hey, you two," Shinichi called over the wind. Kuroba jumped, pulling out of Ran's arms quickly as Ran's head whipped around to stare at Shinichi, gaping.

"Oh… this…" she stuttered, her lips opening and closing soundlessly. "I… I'm going to go," she quickly dismissed herself, nearly sprinting past Shinichi. The roof door slammed shut behind her.

Shinichi advanced on the magician, nearly radiating irritation. "_Kid_…" he rumbled, "what the _hell _do you think you're doing to my girlfriend? As if the roses weren't enough. Why are you making her _cry_?"

Kuroba simply stared at him emotionlessly. "It's nothing, tantei-kun."

"Don't call me that," Shinichi ordered, rubbing his eyes exasperatedly. "Look, you may be Kid, but you're Kuroba too. And answer the damn question."

"I just told her something. She realized she needed to accept what I was saying." Kuroba shrugged, the wind lovingly ruffling his messy brown hair. "I'm… I didn't… It wasn't my intention to make her cry. I didn't think she was going to."

"Really." Shinichi bit back a harsher response, settling down onto one hip. "You… What is your fascination with me, anyway?"

Kuroba seemed to freeze. "What do you mean…?"

"Come on, Kuroba. Kid. You give me roses every day. You don't prank me like everyone else. You flirt with my girlfriend in front of me. You call her out to a rooftop and make her cry. I'm asking you why you do that." Shinichi pushed out a hard exhale, watching the magician.

For a long time, Kuroba stood unmoving. Finally, he slowly began, "Can I tell you what I told Mouri-chan? Maybe not the way I told her, but can I tell you?"

"Go ahead," Shinichi affirmed.

Pulling in a deep breath, Kuroba made eye contact. "I transferred here for you."

Gawping, Shinichi dropped out of his defensive arms-crossed stance. "But you –"

"Just hear me out, okay?" Kuroba's eyes were pleading, and Shinichi quickly backed down, heart pounding.

"I transferred here for you," reiterated Kuroba. "There were other reasons why – something that happened with my childhood friend and this bastard who hated me – but when I heard that you came back…" A small laugh tore through his lips. "I just wanted to get to know you. I knew you, of course, as Conan, but I didn't know you past the rivalry. And I was curious."

Unable to keep silent, Shinichi interjected, "But if you wanted to get to know me better, you should've tried to befriend me, not infuriate me!"

"Well… things didn't go as planned. I…" Kuroba looked torn. Words fell from his mouth in fragmented thoughts. "I didn't mean to… but… it just… I… and you already had her… and I didn't know how…"

Giving up, he returned his gaze to a Shinichi who was growing more and more bewildered. He sighed. "Let me put it this way. I'm the type of person who will do absolutely _anything _to get the attention of the person they're in love with."

With a face set in stone, Kuroba bolted past a frozen Shinichi. The roof door banged close, leaving Shinichi alone on the roof with the wind caressing his skin and the words lingering in his head.

* * *

By the time Shinichi managed to unfreeze and return to the classroom, English had already started. He swore under his breath as he slid the classroom door open. A classroom set of eyes turned to stare – minus one indigo pair.

"Thanks for joining us, Kudou-kun," the teacher remarked snidely, arms crossed across her chest. "Since you finally decided to grace us with your presence, I'll give you the honor of performing your part of _A Midsummer Night's Dream _first."

Shinichi's heart went straight to his toes. He stole a glance at Kuroba, but the other appeared to be hastily pulling out his copy of _A Midsummer Night's Dream. _

"Okay," murmured Shinichi. He made for his desk, getting his book and moving to the front of the room. His throat felt dry as he flipped to page thirty-six.

He felt Kaito arrive at his side, close enough to touch.

"So who will be playing who?" their teacher asked, sitting down in her desk.

"Uh…" Shinichi coughed. "I'm playing Demetrius, and Kuro… Kaito's playing Helena."

Kaito's head jerked up to stare at Shinichi. Shinichi, who had already been looking at him, flinched away and forced himself to concentrate on the words.

"Okay. Go ahead," their teacher commanded, oblivious.

Clearing his throat, Shinichi began. "'I love thee not, therefore pursue me not. Where is Lysander and fair Hermia? The one I'll slay, the other slayeth me. Thoud told'st me they were stolen unto this wood; and here am I, and wode within this wood, because I cannot meet my hermia. Hence, get thee gone, and follow me no more.'"

Kaito's voice came, slightly shaky. "'You draw me, you hard-hearted adamant; but yet you draw not iron, for my heart is true as steel: leave you your power to draw, and I shall have no power to follow you.'"

_Oh God, no. This… _"'Do I entice you? do I speak you fair? Or, rather, do I not in plainest truth…'" Shinichi paused, swallowing. "'…tell you, I do not, nor I cannot love you?'"

"'And even for that do I love you thee more. I am your spaniel; and, Demetrius, the more you beat me, I will fawn on you: Use me but as your spaniel, spurn me, strike me, neglect me, lose me; only give me leave, unworthy as I am, to follow you. What worser place can I beg in your love, and yet a place of high respect with me, than to be used as you use your dog?'" Kaito's voice seemed to be barely held together, shards of sound simply glued to each other.

"'Tempt not too much the hatred of my spirit; for I am sick when I do look on thee.'" _No. That's not right. I don't… it's not like that._

Kaito gulped, a sound only audible to Shinichi. "'And I am sick when I look not on you.'"

"'You do impeach your modesty too much, to leave the city and commit yourself into the hands of one that loves you not; to trust the opportunity of night and the ill counsel of a desert place with the rich worth of your…'" Shinichi inserted an awkward cough. "'…virginity.'"

"'Your virtue is my privilege: for that it is not night when I do see your face, therefore I think I am not in the night; nor doth this wood lack worlds of company, for you in my respect are all the world: then how can it be said I am alone, when all the world is here to look on me?'"

"'I'll run from thee and hide me in the brakes, and leave thee to the mercy of wild beasts.'" Shinichi cringed.

"'The wildest hath not such a heart as you. Run when you will, the story shall be changed: Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase; the…'" Kaito stopped for a second, took a breath, and continued. "'…dove pursues the griffin; the mind hind makes speed to catch the tiger; bootless speed, when cowardice pursues and valor flies.'"

"'I will not stay thy questions; let me go: or if thou follow me, do not believe but I shall do thee mischief in the wood.'"

"'Ay, in the temple, in the town, the field, you do me mischief. Fie, Demetrius! Your wrongs do set a scandal on my sex: We cannot fight for love, as men may do; we should be wood and were not made to woo.'" Kaito's voice was shivering. "'I'll follow thee and make a heaven of hell, to die upon the hand I love so well.'"

The class was silent when Kaito spoke his last line. Finally, their teacher shook herself out of her stupor. "Wow. That was… amazing. You two… great job."

Shinichi nodded numbly and walked back to his seat on shuddering legs. He was dimly aware of their teacher calling up the next pair, but all he was aware of was how he had completely rejected everything he had just said to Kaito. _Because none of it was true._

A gentle hand tapped him, and Shinichi turned to see Ran smiling brokenheartedly at him. "I always knew you were in love with him," she whispered.

"W-What?"

She laughed softly. "Not just anyone can get you that annoyed in only a few days. I knew he was different to you. I just didn't want to believe it."

Shinichi stared into her beautiful face, saw the love she had for him, the tears in her eyes. And he did the only thing he could. He reached over and ruffled her hair. "Thank you, Ran."

A small smile surfaced on her lips. "Well, I wouldn't know anyway. You're the great detective, aren't you?"

Surprised, Shinichi softened into a smile. "You got that right. And you're the great detective's best friend."

Ran grinned as the presentation began at the front of the classroom. "Huh. You're right, I am."

* * *

"Kaito!" Shinichi chased after the retreating back of the magician. "Wait!"

Kaito didn't turn, choosing instead to break into a partial run. Swearing, Shinichi raced after him, finally catching up to him two blocks away from the school.

"Come _on_, what's wrong?" panted Shinichi.

The messy-haired man avoided his gaze. "It's… no." He started off again, but Shinichi quickly gathered him up in his arms, effectively holding him in place.

"Are you not going to let me even _talk_?" Shinichi asked.

"What are you going to say? You pity me? You hate me? Well, I'm sorry for falling in love with you!" shouted Kaito, his voice breaking.

Shinichi sucked in a breath. "Kaito…"

"Don't call me that. Don't be nice to me if you don't even like me," snapped Kaito, trying to pull out of Shinichi's hold.

"Who the hell said I don't like you?" Shinichi growled, tightening his grasp on the struggling magician.

"Well, you did say it this afternoon," Kaito muttered sulkily, jerking his arms from side to side.

"That was a damn _school assignment_," Shinichi retorted. "And listen to me, for God's sake!"

"Why the hell should I, when you don't like me?!"

"Dammit, Kaito, if I didn't like you, I would've turned you in to the police!"

That got the magician to still.

Shinichi relaxed his hold just the slightest bit. "You don't know how I felt reading those lines this afternoon. I couldn't stand it. They were so… wrong."

Kaito didn't say a word.

"It was the weirdest feeling to understand that… that… I…" Shinichi closed his eyes. Finding the words was more difficult than he had expected. "I didn't understand before, you know, that I was… jealous."

"What?" The word was inquisitive – less angry. Shinichi took it as a good sign.

"I got so irritated with your antics because I was jealous that you were paying attention to everyone else and not just me. I wanted to monopolize you. It was me being selfish."

Kaito didn't reply.

Shinichi exhaled hard. "If you need further proof that I don't hate you, think about this: Why would I be holding you like this if I did?"

"But if you don't hate me, do you…" Against his chest, Shinichi felt Kaito swallow. "Do you… you know….?"

A smile slipped across Shinichi's face. "Of course. I love you, Kaito."

Kaito revolved in Shinichi's arms to look him in the face as if to check if he was lying, and Shinichi took the chance to press his lips against Kaito's.

He pulled back finally, smiling at the flushed magician in his arms. "You taste good," he commented, grinning widely as he watched Kaito's blush intensify at the words. Kaito smacked him, glaring.

Smile melting off, Shinichi sobered. "I just wish that I hadn't taken so long to realize. It would've saved you so much pain. For that, I'm sorry, Kaito."

A smirk crept onto Kaito's freshly kissed lips. "Well, the course of true love never did run smooth."

* * *

***gojuuon order: **_Japanese equivalent of alphabetical order organized by on the first syllable of words (generally speaking). If I'm thinking about this correctly, "Kudou" and "Kuroba" would be close._

***genkan:**_ small depression-ish thing in Japanese homes in the entries where you take off your shoes and change to indoor slippers._

* * *

**Yeah, I don't know where that came from either. *cries* T_T" Completely random. & bad.**

**This probably makes more sense if you've read **_**A Midsummer Night's Dream **_**or know the story. I'm going to now do a terrible job summarizing the basic problem.**

**There's this girl named Hermia who's in love with a guy named Lysander. Her father doesn't approve of Lysander and wants her to marry Demetrius, some other guy, who's also in love with Hermia. However, Hermia's best friend, Helena, is in love with Demetrius, but he treats her pretty badly. See how it sort of fits the Shinichi-Ran-Kaito love triangle (although there's no Lysander character) I had in this fic?**

**...no...?**

**Okay, I'm going to go now. And I'm sorry for this. T_T" I haven't been writing anything good recently.**

**Well, drop a review anyway, k? *heart***

**- Luna**


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